Oxx - Boulder Dash - Amusement Park Loudspeaker Remix
Copyright © 1984 First Star Software Inc.
1377. in all-time charts
Boulder Dash was certainly my favorite and most played game.
Thinking now how simple a design it has, and yet how complex can it get during gameplay blows my mind. Therefore, it was impossible to resist the temptation to make a complex remix out of it's simple tune, and here it is.
I started working on this remix at the beginning of this month. All I can say is, the output (at least for me) proves the phrase standing on a giant's shoulder
, where the giant here is Vital and all the kind people and corporations who shared their superb presets with the public.
Although some parts of the remix may seem like it was prodcued by using loops, in fact all the events, notes, automations were recorded or manually programmed. This time, I also spent a considerable amount of time tweaking the EQs for each track, trying to seperate the low/mid/high bands. I think I've managed to achieve it to some degree, but the true gain I had from this experience was to understand why it is a specialty and is done by professionals specialized on this.
My ideas to enrich the simple melody were to sometimes repeat certain parts of it (as in the build-up section) and sometimes to stretch a part to double time, as in the climax sections (which was fun). Also; this remix would not be complete without exposing the whole melody somewhere, so it is at the heart of the remix, in the middle, taking me to the days where I was always fed, covered and safe, playing Boulder Dash.
One of the plug-ins that I employed, which I have to mention here is A1TriggerGate by Alex Hilton. (https://a1audio.alexhilton.net/) Without this plug-in, this remix could not have been implemented as it is. The effect of this particular plug-in can be heard at the very end of the remix, where all tracks suspend and only trance-gated tracks are playing.
I used Cakewalk by BandLab (as usual), and the synths Vital and Surge XT (the best VSTs I have so far)
Audio FX are from https://samplefocus.com
Note: The name of the remix is to the point this time 😊 I think with the in your face
drums and bass, it would sound nice out of amusement park loudspeakers 😊
I hope you enjoy my work.
Note to all who left comments on my previous remixes: Thank you, thousands of times. Your comments make me review my shortcomings and to take action for improvement.
Technique
Artistic skill
Nostalgia factor
Overall rating
Technique
Artistic skill
Nostalgia factor
Overall rating